UPDATE: The newly-published authors will sell and autograph their book on April 17, just outside Books-A-Million at Meadowbrook Mall. 

 

When Georgette Griffith thinks about the book, “Memories: Treasured Moments in Time,” two sounds come to mind: The clicking of computer keyboards and enthusiastic applause.

 

It all happened at Bridgeport High School about a year and a half ago. Griffith, an area educator for the past 40-plus years, was hired as a substitute teacher to temporarily replace art teacher, Courtney Rankin. Long story short, Griffith asked her students to each write a short story and illustrate it.

 

The book has been published by the Dorrance Publishing Company.  Not only will all 18 student authors be part of a local book release/signing event, but they will all receive royalty checks.

 

Several months after receiving the news that the stories had been accepted for publishing, Griffith is as excited as she was the day she found out. She explained how it all came to be.

 

“I was hired at the beginning of the (2015-2016) school year to fill in until probably the middle of November,” Griffith said. “I took over the computer graphics and art class.”

 

A longtime art teacher at Robert C. Byrd High School, Griffith was right at home, yet she wanted to shake it up a little.

 

“I had several art classes and I was trying to figure out what to do with the computer class to make it interesting and innovative – something kind of different – using computer and art together,” she said.

 

Using a little inspiration from a little business Giffith runs on the side - which includes the illustration and framing of children's books - she had an idea.

 

“I thought maybe the kids could write something – a story of something that had a great impact in their life, something they would never forget,” she said.

 

Griffith used a classic, “The Three Little Pigs,” to get the idea across to her students.

 

“It’s short – only 12 pages long, but it has impact and a lesson,” she said.

 

So she challenged the students – which ranged from freshmen through seniors – to focus in on that one event that stood out in their relatively short lives thus far and to write a book about it.

 

It was to be 10-12 pages long, three to four sentences per page and include a narrative.

 

“At first the kids looked at me, then I could see their little minds going,” Griffith said.

 

And that’s when it happened.

 

“It was amazing. They were at their computer desks and all I could hear was the clicking sound of them typing,” Griffith said. “They were so into it.”

 

The students worked on the project for the next few days; the writing, the proofing, the editing. When everyone had completed his or her short story, Griffith asked them to – one at a time – stand up and read their work.

 

After a couple of the students had shared their stories, the other students expressed their approval.

 

“The kids started applauding,” Griffith said. “At the end of the 90-minute block, all the stories had been read and they were so good. Of the 18, no two wrote about the same thing.”

 

The stories included those about a first pet, Halloween and Christmas celebrations, riding a bike for the first time and taking a driver’s license test.

 

The next phase of the project was to illustrate the stories.

 

“They could either draw their own artwork using their tablets or they could find images that were copyright-free,” Griffith said.

 

She was so impressed with the finished product that she had books bound for each student – her gift to her students for doing such a superb job on their assignment.

On a whim – while attending her mom’s 95^th birthday in North Carolina – Griffith decided to try to find a publisher. She called Dorrance, which has offices in Charlotte.

 

“These kids had done such a wonderful collection of short stories, I explained to them,” she said.

 

By the time the phone call was over, Griffith had made arrangeents to send the stories for the publisher’s review.

 

“A week and a half later, they called and said they had accepted all of them,” she said.

 

A year and a half after Griffith was their teacher, all 18 students – some still at BHS; others in college or making a living out in the real world - met with her earlier this week. It was a business meeting.

 

“We signed royalty papers and tax papers,” Griffith said. “They will get royalty checks – two per year for 30 years and then they can renew for rest of their lives.”

 

“Memories: Treasured Moments in Time” – with cover design by Mattie Missildine – is registered in the Library of Congress and it will be available for purchase at Books-A-Million stores across the country as well as Amazon.com.

 

On April 4, Griffith and her author students Brad Cumberledge, Danielle Lodge, John Luke Massie, Michael Michaels, Mattie Missildine, Preston Peasak, Emma Posey, Travis Priester, Micah Swann, Abigail Thompson, Aaron Tran and Carlos Wiseman will be recognized for their project by the Harrison County Board of Education.

 

On April 17, the newly-published authors will sell the first copies of their book at the Meadowbrook Mall. Set up just outside Books-A-Million, the students will be autographing and meeting members of the public.

 

Of Lost Creek, Griffith is an accomplished artist, her works displayed at Tamarack in Beckley, among other venues. At her Web site, Woodland Brook Studio, she has a number of her artworks available for purchase, from pencil and pen and ink sketches of West Virginia's covered bridges, Mail Pouch barns and homestead-inspired pieces to unique greeting cards in water color. She works also specializes in graphic arts and various various other mediums and does commission work and her newest project, illustrated and framed children's books.